Labrador Battery
Address: Labrador Nature Reserve, Labrador Villa Road, Singapore 119187
Opening Hours: Daily
Fort Pasir Panjang was originally part of a network of fortifications built in the 19th century by the British to protect the western approaches to Keppel Harbour from piracy and foreign naval powers, it fell into disuse before the First World War but as Japan grew aggressive in the interwar years updated plans for the defence of Singapore saw the need to upgrade the seaward defences to protect not only the naval base on north side of the island but the city and civilian harbour as well.
Fort Pasir Panjang was subsequently reactivated and requipped with a battery of modern 6-inch guns and renamed Labrador Battery. Together with Fort Siloso on Sentosa Island on the other side of the western entrance to Keppel Harbour, these 2 modernized batteries would provide effective close-in defence of the Harbour from seaward attack.
The Battery would play a limited role in the defence of Singapore proper as the Japanese chose to attack the island from landward. From 11 Feburary 1942, the guns would fire landward in support of the army in the defence of the western sector of the perimeter as it gradually shrank. It would fire in support of the Malay Regiment during the Battle of Bukit Chandu on 13 Feburary before orders came later that same day for the guns of the battery to be spiked as the Japanese were reported to be in close proximity to the Battery.
Opening Hours: Daily
Fort Pasir Panjang was originally part of a network of fortifications built in the 19th century by the British to protect the western approaches to Keppel Harbour from piracy and foreign naval powers, it fell into disuse before the First World War but as Japan grew aggressive in the interwar years updated plans for the defence of Singapore saw the need to upgrade the seaward defences to protect not only the naval base on north side of the island but the city and civilian harbour as well.
Fort Pasir Panjang was subsequently reactivated and requipped with a battery of modern 6-inch guns and renamed Labrador Battery. Together with Fort Siloso on Sentosa Island on the other side of the western entrance to Keppel Harbour, these 2 modernized batteries would provide effective close-in defence of the Harbour from seaward attack.
The Battery would play a limited role in the defence of Singapore proper as the Japanese chose to attack the island from landward. From 11 Feburary 1942, the guns would fire landward in support of the army in the defence of the western sector of the perimeter as it gradually shrank. It would fire in support of the Malay Regiment during the Battle of Bukit Chandu on 13 Feburary before orders came later that same day for the guns of the battery to be spiked as the Japanese were reported to be in close proximity to the Battery.